Biggles' Sky High Spy
Biggles and the Flying Camera is a short story which was first published in The Modern Boy Issue 357, 8th December 1934. The story was subsequently gathered and published in 1935 in the anthology Biggles in France where it spanned chapters 14 and 15 and were titled Suspicions and Off and Away!. The story was adapted with a WW2 setting and published in Spitfire Parade as The Flying Spy. It reappeared in 1993 in the WW1 version in the Red Fox Biggles in France and the 2009 Norman Wright edition. Both of these versions retained the chapter division and titles of the 1935 edition. In the Modern Boy sequence, this story is preceded by Biggles and the Flying Camera and followed by Biggles Carves the Turkey. Synopsis Biggles suspects that a visiting pilot may not be what he seems. Believing that he may be a German spy, he sets a trap for him. But Algy learns the truth and must act quickly to prevent Biggles from making a bad mistake. Plot See article for Butterworth for a detailed summary of the plot. Characters *Biggles *Captain MacLaren *Captain Mahoney *Algy Lacey *Butterworth *Wat Tyler Aircraft *Sopwith Camel *Albatros *R.E.8 Places Visited *Maranique *Ypres *Vricourt Mentioned *Teteghen *Ostend *Bixshoote *Langemarck *Wieltje *Lympne Editorial Changes Other Research Notes *Aerial Victories: Biggles 1, Algy 1 + 1 probable **There is one probable in addition to the 3 kills clearly described in the text. Of the 3 kills, Butterworth got 1, Algy 1 and Biggles 1. But only 2 Albatros out of an initial formation of 6 are seen flying away, so someone scored 1 more. This could be: ***"Biggles took a dark green machine into his sights, fired, and swerved as he heard bullets hitting his own machine." or, ***When Biggles saw "An Albatros, with a Camel (Algy) apparently tied to its tail by an invisible cord" tear across his nose. ***From these two descriptions, it appears Biggles' burst of fire was only a brief one whereas Algy had a longer pursuit, hence this probable is awarded to Algy. *Other R.F.C. units mentioned: 298 Squadron at Teteghen, performing escort duties for bombers operating against the seaplane shed at Ostend. References to the past Incongruities Chronology *From a chronology point of view, this story is from the second block of Modern Boy stories which went into Biggles in France. This block was published about 4 months after the first block. In contrast to the first block, the second block appears to be set later during the war. Biggles is obviously a flight commander, and a captain and Algy Lacey has just joined the squadron. This would place the story in late August 1917.Ward Powers. "What Happened to Biggles in WW1?" ''Biggles Flies Again'' Vol. 3 No. 1, June 2009. *The text mentions that the Battle for the Ypres salient (Passchendaele) was still in progress and that is consistent with August 1917. Publication History *''The Modern Boy'', Issue 357, 8th December 1934 *''Biggles in France'', Boy's Friend Library No. 501 7th November 1935 (as two chapters: Suspicions and Up and Away!) *Adapted for Spitfire Parade, 1941 *''Biggles in France'', Red Fox, 1993 and subsequent reprints *''Biggles in France'', Norman Wright, 2009 References External Links Category:Short stories Category:Biggles short stories Category:World War One era short stories